A company can use its website in a variety of ways to communicate information to its customers. For example, a company can configure its website to provide information to a customer before the customer makes a purchasing decision. In other instances, the company can directly provide its products and/or services to its customers through its website, provide customer service through a support network, and/or gather specific information about its potential customers.
In order to implement such a wide array of services (which customers in this day and age have come to expect from Internet companies), many companies must employ large, robust websites and maintain large web presences. One consequence of creating such large and complex websites is that customers many not readily find the information or service they desire. For example, a customer may navigate to a desired location (e.g., web page) on a company's website, yet many not know the appropriate next steps to take once he or she reaches the desired location (e.g., how to complete a purchase transaction, how to compare a displayed product with other products, etc.). It is often difficult to determine when to engage a user of a website (e.g., to provide online chat help, to send coupons, to send advertisements, etc.).